MA-AM: Automation Software

Automation Software

Software for the future: New technologies will be driven by new software, so be prepared

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 13:19 Jeremy Pollard

Ten Years After: a rock group that performed at Woodstock, with Alvin Lee as an up-and-coming guitar player. Who’d have known, come 2009, that anyone would remember 40 years into the past? Well, we do.

So 10 years from now, where will we be and what technology will we be using in software?

One thing for sure is that you will not be in the job you are in today. The skills required to remain in the industry will be wide ranging, and you will probably need some level of certification.

I have pontificated before on certain technologies only to be shot down by a lack of enthusiasm of the...

FreeProxy network manager: Software controls users’ access to shared resources

Monday, 26 October 2009 09:16 Jeremy Pollard

Cyber security and rogue plant floor applications are made for each other. One tries to get to places while the other tries to stop them. Sounds like parents with teenagers.

But I assure you it is more than that.

A proxy server is a software application that resides on a computer in your network. Previous proxy “servers” — a word that can be misinterpreted because it can mean hardware or software — needed to be run on a server-based operating system platform. In this case, the FreeProxy software can run on any Windows-based operating system, although it hasn’t...

Network monitoring software that gives you the whole picture

Monday, 06 October 2008 00:00 Jeremy Pollard

I have to admit that when I started this review of IntraVUE network monitoring and configuration software, I was a bit skeptical about a product claimed it could map out your plant floor network and find issues based on a network tool called "ping." I also wondered where the value was in a product that can cost you upwards of $4,000 to be able to see pretty boxes.

Now that I have seen the software, I know!

IntraVUE is a below-the-surface network tool that can help any company that has a layered network see and hear their devices, which can then allow the support team to better...

Software for the mind: A book review of the IEC 61499 function block standard

Monday, 15 September 2008 00:00 Jeremy Pollard

While this book is primarily written for academia and for course study, it can very well suit some control engineers and some process guys to allow them to learn more about the IEC 61499 standard. So, for those who have no idea what IEC 61499 is or how it can help you, this book can answer most of your questions.

This IEC standard, as author Valeriy Vyatkin states in the introduction to IEC 61499 Function Blocks for Embedded and Distributed Control Systems Design, was in development for more than 10 years. It was developed as an answer to the question, “How do I protect my intellectual...

Automation Software: Forget remote access and start remoting

Friday, 14 October 2005 19:00 Jeremy Pollard

We have a tough job every day developing applications for manufacturing automation projects, control code, HMI interfaces and communication strategies. Additionally, we have to maintain those systems and processes as we accept more responsibility for the success of that process. Then, as with all day-to-day operations, something goes south somewhere.

It really doesn't matter if you are a project supervisor, a maintenance manager, control engineer, or a startup technician. And it also doesn't matter if you are employed by a user company or an OEM. This advice is for you.

First...

Automation Software: A logical choice

Tuesday, 01 March 2005 19:00 Jeremy Pollard

Collecting data from hardware devices on a plant floor used to be difficult. After years of device-driver growing pains, the Ole for Process Control (OPC) device communication specification was born. The specification, which provides a common interface for programmatic data access between hardware and software, allows automation software users to interface with any piece of control hardware with an OPC-compliant device driver.

The OPC server sits between a software application and a plant-floor device, and "serves up" data from the device to the application. Rockwell Automation developed...

Software for the future: New technologies will be driven by new software, so be prepared

FreeProxy network manager: Software controls users’ access to shared resources

Network monitoring software that gives you the whole picture

Software for the mind: A book review of the IEC 61499 function block standard

Automation Software: Forget remote access and start remoting

Automation Software: A logical choice

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